Dental trays are receptacles that are used to carry a medicine or dental hygiene materials, such as bleaching agents or fluoride application, and apply them to the teeth. It confines the material next to the teeth during the application. Bleaching is becoming more popular with the general public because efforts have been made to simplify the bleaching process and provide devices useful for home care and treatment by individuals without professional supervision.
There are two types of dental trays: stock and customized. Stock trays are pre-fabricated into a variety of standard sizes. They are used only for preliminary procedures and to produce impressions for casting as an interim step to creating more accurate dental trays and models of teeth. Custom trays are made by a dentist or technician by molding a material over a gypsum model of the patient's teeth. In order to get the gypsum model, a preliminary impression is made from the patient's teeth. The model requires at least one dental visit and requires a laboratory to construct the gypsum model.
Once the model is made, the customized dental tray is formed by the dentist or lab according to the limitations of the materials to be used for the tray. If the tray is made of thermoplastic sheets, the tray may be formed in a vacuum forming machine or other machine which exerts pressure. The sheets are placed in a soft state over the model and pressure is applied while the material sets.
Attempts have also been made to design simpler devices for use by the patient at home. Tarvis U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,314 discloses the simplest use of dental wax, where the flat wax 14 in FIG. 2 is rolled to fit the shape of a dental plate. No suggestion of any use other than to take impressions is made in this patent. Sintov et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,953 discloses a liquid polymer that includes a bleaching agent or other treatment agent. There is no reference to dental wax in Sintov et al. Curtis et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,445 employs a dilatant silicone polymer composition that is shaped and pressed against the teeth for sufficient time to release the active component. The polymer in Curtis et al is elastic, putty-like in composition, and is primarily directed at removing food particles from between the teeth and/or applying a dentifrice or medicament to below the gum line. Yarborough U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,738 employs laser light to activate bleaching agents applied to the teeth. Latex rubber is used to cover the mouth other than the teeth.
Sagel et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,691 (Sagel '691) covers a delivery system using a strip of material having a low flexural stiffness. The material is generally characterized as being thin, having a flexural stiffness less than a predetermined value, readily conformable without permanent deformation, and having some adhesive properties. The preferred material is a gel and the specific preferred gel is formed from 70% glycerin, 5% carboxypolymethylene, 10% carbamide peroxide and 15% water. The material is very soft, almost mushy, and is different in kind from the dental wax which fractures when bent quickly at room temperature.
Sagel et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,453 (Sagel '453) discloses an improvement on Sagel '691, in which the strip of material is any number of materials, both synthetic and natural, and would broadly include dental wax if that material, not disclosed, was as flexible as called for by the patent. The clear plastic flexible material on to which the gel is placed is much more flexible than dental wax.
Finally, Sagel et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,017 (Sagel '017) discloses the same flexible material with a substance on it for treating teeth. This patent calls for the substance to additionally provide an adhesive attachment between the strip and the surface to hold the delivery system in place. Treatment agent 14 in FIG. 1 is an illustration of one adhesive agent.
All three Sagel et al patents provide for covering the front of the teeth but do not have a configuration suitable for covering the back of the teeth.
One embodiment of the present invention is to provide a simple method and device for whitening teeth could be provided.
Another embodiment is a method and device that uses commonly known dental materials.
Yet another embodiment is a method of making a device that is low cost and yet effective.
Still another embodiment manufactures a device that can be reused by the same patient simply by rinsing and cleaning the tray.
One embodiment is a method of making a dental bleaching tray that can also be used for other purposes, such as fluoride treatment, anti-bacterial treatments and the like.
Other embodiments will appear hereinafter.